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Young children, the outdoors and nature
Young children, the outdoors and nature

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3 A risky business

Three babies in a pram.
Figure 4 Experiencing the outdoors from a pram

Illustrations from practice show that babies are often taken outside in a pram as in Figure 4, alternatively they can be put in a play pen outdoors to keep them safe from older children tripping over them. ‘Keeping them safe’ is the important phrase here; practitioners may worry that if young children are not contained in a pram or a pen then they are at risk of harm. In this section you will look at how practitioners assess for risk, considering how this may sometimes be problematic. You will also examine why appropriate risk taking is seen as something to be welcomed, even for very young children.